RETURN TO PAN AM CENTER
Elijah Brown is thriving for UNM in absence of standout Williams
Lobo Elijah Brown is looking for another strong performance in Las Cruces
>>
His teammates were already in the locker room.
Most fans had already made their way up the concrete Pit steps to the concourse, if not already into the parking lots.
And as ROOT Sports’ Jenny Cavnar concluded her postgame interview with UNM shooting guard Elijah Brown on Wednesday night, moments after his leaning 18-foot jump shot gave the Lobos a come-from-behind 78-77 victory over the rival UTEP Miners, one person was waiting to walk him up the ramp.
Craig Neal, the Lobos’ headstrong fourth-year coach who has sometimes this season been less than thrilled with the oncourt decision making of his headstrong star guard, flashed a huge smile, gave the 6-foot4 guard a highfive and put his arm around Brown before the two walked, relieved, back toward a celebratory UNM locker room.
“I was happy for him,” said Neal. “I think he’s playing the way he’s capable of playing. He hit a huge shot. He wanted the shot, which I think is tremendous. I think the biggest thing for him is he was able to make a play for his team . ...
“For some reason, I just knew he was going to make it.”
Brown’s 25 points and efficient shooting night pushed the Lobos to 6-3 on the season. New Mexico has split the past two games without senior power forward Tim Williams (concussion), the second half of what was expected to be an inside-out offensive duo that would carry the Lobos back to national relevance this season.
It’s unclear if Williams, UNM’s leading scorer at 19.0 points per game, will be available tonight
in Las Cruces as the Lobos play at New Mexico State (7-2), which has won five straight since a 72-59 loss in the Pit on Nov. 18.
Brown averaged 23 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in the two games Williams has been absent and reasserted himself as a reliable go-to scorer. That’s something he seemed to be trying to force at times over the past month after missing more than 20 preseason practices with a hamstring injury.
If he’s returned to finding a balance between forcing his offense and letting it come to him — the Lobos’ scheme, after all, is largely designed in such a way that he’ll get plenty of shots anyway — UNM is hopeful it can start hitting its stride when Mountain West play starts Dec. 28.
What has Neal most excited is he knows how much better Brown can still get over what he showed last year.
“He’s got a lot of growth he has to do defensively,” Neal said. “He’s got a lot of growth on shot selection. He’s got a lot of growth on getting his teammates involved and trusting them. But he’s made strides.”
Tonight’s game provides another big test for Brown, but the location seems ideal. The Pan American Center, after all, was where Brown scored 31 points a year ago and introduced himself to the college basketball world as an elite scorer, not just some solid transfer from Butler.
Brown hit 13 of 14 free throws in that game, setting the tone for becoming one of the nation’s hardest players to guard without fouling. The 7.2 fouls per 40 minutes he drew were 22nd best in the nation. This year, he’s down to 6.3 fouls drawn per 40 minutes, 145th in the country.
BANNER NIGHT:
Prior to the game, NMSU will unveil a banner to honor former coach Lou Henson for his 779 career coaching victories. There will also be a halftime ceremony, and a second banner unveiling, commemorating the school’s 1970 Final Four team, which was coached by Henson.
UNDER ARMOUR:
With the Aggies now under an apparel and equipment contract with Under Armour, the Lobos practiced since Wednesday’s UTEP game with Under Armour basketballs that will be used in this game.
UNM has done so in the past when playing at Colorado State, also an Under Armour school, each season. The UA balls are considered slicker, in general, than the Nike Elite basketballs UNM plays with in the Pit, which is also the same ball used by most Mountain West schools.